Bessy Reyna

Bessy Reyna is a former opinion columnist for the Hartford Courant. She is the arts editor for the Spanish-language paper Identidad Latina (www.identidadlatina.com) Her page LatinArte News includes theater reviews, as well as interviews with actors and features many literary and cultural events. She is also a frequent contributor to the Arts and Culture section of www.CTLatinonews.com.

Born in Cuba and raised in Panama, Reyna worked in TV and theater in Panama City. She was also the producer of the weekly radio show “Agenda Cultural” and edited an arts’ page for the newspapers La Estrella de Panama and El Panama America. Her love for the theater started at the movies when Broadway musicals and plays were shown in Panama City. To this day “Sweet Charity” is her favorite of the adaptations she has seen. Reyna joined the University of Panama’s theater group which toured to Colombia and Nicaragua, and was a member of the group Teatro en Círculo. Reyna is a graduate of Mt Holyoke College (BA) and the University of Connecticut (MA and JD) Her contributions to Latino arts in Connecticut have been recognized with many awards among them are: the State of Connecticut’s Latino and Puerto Rican Affairs Commission: Latina Citizen of the Year; honored by the CT Women’s Hall of Fame, and with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the CT Center for the book of the Library of Congress. (www.bessyreyna.com)